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Friday, July 27, 2012

There are 2 things that I've notice a lot of on the Internet and the first is all of the fun knitting accessories that are available. For example cafepress.ca has these fun K2tog (knit 2 together) bags. I love these bags and I've been thinking how nice it would be to have something that had sc2tog (single crochet 2 together) printed on it.

The second thing that I've noticed a lot of are all of the stamped burlap pillows. Just google burlap pillow or do a search in pinterest and you will see tons of wonderful examples. Since I'm currently obsessed with burlap, word art, and crochet I wanted to create my own burlap pillow for my office space.

I love crafting, but crochet designing zaps me of most of my brain power and creative energy so this project had to meet 3 important criteria: instant gratification, easy, and with the exception of the burlap it had to utilize current supplies. I did a google search on how to make your own stamped burlap pillow, talked to a few friends, and this is what I came up with.

As you can see from the picture below, excluding the sewing supplies, I didn't need much to get started. I purchased about 1.25 meters (1.37 yards) of burlap so that I would have enough to make 3 pillows. I used a reclaimed cushion that I had on hand, and I made my own stencil.

To make the stencil I simply chose a font that I liked the look of, and that would be easy to cut out. Using a regular piece of paper I then printed the stencil out. The next part was the hardest, and most time consuming, and that was cutting out the letters. By time consuming I mean a maximum of about 15 minutes. This job, however, would be super quick and easy if you had a Cricut or Silhouette electronic cutting tool.

I needed a 15 x 15" cover for my cushion so I added a 5/8 seam allowance and cut out two pieces of burlap. When I was done I centered my paper stencil on the burlap, and taped it in place.

Using a black "wanna be sharpie" that I had purchased from the dollar store I then traced the letters out.

Once the letters were traced out I removed the stencil and using the same pen I coloured in all of the letters. Super easy I know, but doesn't it look great?

As for the sewing, using the closest matching thread that I had on hand I sewed a 5/8 seam around 3 of the edges. I trimmed the edges and I finished the seam off with a zig zag stitch. I then stuffed in the pillow, folded in the remaining edge about 5/8 and sewed in place. As you can see from the picture I messed up, and my last seam ended up on the side edge of the cushion as opposed to the bottom where it would have been less noticeable. The whole project took me about an hour, and because I mostly used items that I had on hand the pillow cost me less than $4.00 CAD to make.﻿

When I was all done one of my daughters asked if I had made the pillow and thinking that she was about to sing my praises I said, "yes"!!! My daughter then looked at me and asked, "what does scu-two-tug mean?"

Monday, July 23, 2012

This is our last sale of the year so now is a great time to visit knotsewcute.etsy.com and stock up for winter! Also, our regular offer of buy 5 patterns from our etsy shop and receive 1 free still applies. Just leave us a note in the "Message to Seller" section at checkout regarding your 6th free pattern choice and we will automatically send you your free pattern. Enjoy!!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Leslie of LedorCrochet, a super sweet customer and experienced crocheter recently wrote me and asked if it was possible to make the Grab and Go Project Bag without adding the grommets. Experience tells me that it will most certainly work, but I still found it scarey to answer "yes" without having first tried it. This is when I seem to get a bad case of the "what if's", so I was super excited when Leslie wrote back and said that she had successfully completed her project and shared pictures with us!

To keep the holes from felting shut Leslie wove two strands of acrylic yarn through the holes before felting the bag. Great job and thanks so much for sharing!!!

Also, Leslie sells lots of adorable crocheted items for your little ones, and she is the exclusive shop to offer items made from the patterns of the very talented designer Lianka Azulay, so be sure to check out her etsy shop and have fun browsing!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Okay, so it's a pattern and it was more forgotten than lost but doesn't "the lost manuscript" sound so much better?

We originally published this pattern way back in 2008, but because we are very fussy, and we weren't crazy about how the yarn quickly stretched out of shape we decided to pull the pattern. Tara originally had plans of reworking the pattern in a more stable yarn but life kept getting in the way. Now 4 years later we are offering the "Child's Earflap Hat by Tara Schreyer" as a free download for you to enjoy!

The pattern includes instructions for 2 different sizes (Newborn to 12 months and 12 to 24 months) and also two different options for finishing (a buttoned strap or braids) You can choose to use the same yarn (Bernat Bamboo® Natural Blends) or you can choose a different yarn of similar weight. Although the Bernat Bamboo is incredibly soft, as we said earlier, it tends to stretch out so we would recommend switching up the yarn. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I'm all for using a regular re-useable to-go cup but sometimes you simply forget or are in such a hurry that you don't have time to grab it on your way out. But when you find yourself in the coffee shop for your morning coffee, you can at least pass on the paper sleeve. You can use a re-usable cuff that you have created instead!!

This is a crochet and felting pattern. The designs on the coffee cuffs in the pictures have been needle felted on and the sketches for a dragonfly, butterfly, and ladybug have been included in the pattern if you desire to use them. But really, there is no limit to what you can design on them.

Some basic knowledge of needle felting is required as the pattern doesn't explain the process of needle felting. However, you can find information right here on our blog (far down in the posting).

The pattern calls for 100% wool and is crocheted using simple stitches. After felting, the coffee cuff measures 2.75" high and 5" wide. It should fit most medium or large to-go coffee cups.

The pattern also includes figure pictures and simple instructions on how to felt.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

I recently finished making the #06 Bracelets by Karen Stahlecker. I bought the silver clasps from a wonderful etsy shop called Carrie Gems. I used DMC Cébélia Cotton size 10 and amber coloured seed beads 6/0 that I had previously purchased from Micheals. This was a fun, easy project that produced great results so I plan on making lots more.